Motor vehicle anti-theft security system

ABSTRACT

An anti-theft system is described adaptable to any motor vehicle have a removable accessory electronic unit such as a high-fidelity stereo component unit installed within a mounting bracket and slidably detachable therefrom. Upon leaving the car, the vehicle owner takes along the entire accessory unit, or alternatively takes only a detachable front control panel from the unit, for secure safekeeping or to be retained in the personal possession of the owner. At the same time, continuity of the electrical circuit supplying current from the storage battery to the motor vehicle fuel pump (or ignition switch, or other control component of the vehicle) is interrupted, thus preventing normal operation of the vehicle and protecting against unauthorized use.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of anti-theft devices formotor vehicles, in particular motor vehicles that have an electronicaccessory unit such as a high-fidelity car stereo removable from amounting bracket which is secured to the dashboard, to the frontbulkhead or to the floor area of the passenger compartment within themotor vehicle.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of automobile anti-theft devices are known in the art. Asthe public demand for approaches to improved security has increased,especially within recent years, the number of these devices has grownproportionately. However, despite the momentum of acceleratingtechnological innovation, such anti-theft systems have not been widelyaccepted by the public. Being perhaps somewhat complicated in operationor else unmanageable or unwieldy as a practical matter, oftentimesdevices for improving automobile security have not been effectively usedon an everyday basis by vehicle owners. To be sure, no anti-theft systemcan be considered indefatigable. All the same, a secure protectivesystem that could be made widely available and one that could beproperly and effectively implemented without undue effort, difficulty orinconvenience for the vehicle owner, might serve to provide a positivecontribution towards decreasing the prevalence of car theft generally.

An area of particular focus and significance in the field of automotiveanti-theft devices concerns the security and protection of car stereosystem component units, which oftentimes have a radio receiver andamplifier along with a tape cassette or compact disc player combined ina single unit. The amount of interest directed to this field is readilyunderstandable since, among these who are concerned with high-fidelityaudio and who desire having a quality sound system installed insidetheir cars, ensuring their audio system components against tampering andtheft is also an important consideration.

The security problem for car stereos becomes all the more acute, ofcourse, with modern-day high-fidelity systems which, being bothexpensive and rather easily portable, all too readily may become targetsfor attracting unwanted attention. Unfortunately, even the besthigh-fidelity car stereos remain susceptible to the extent thatdestruction and disassembly of their installations, however stronglybolted or riveted they may have been initially, might be quicklyaccomplished using relatively simple tools which are commonly availableand not subject to interdiction.

As one of the preferred solutions for preventing the theft of carstereos, vehicle owners often request to have these units installedwithin a protective sleeve or a mounting bracket contained inside thefront dashboard. The entire unit can then be simply removed from thebracket, and thus guarded for safe keeping in the personal possession ofthe owner, or secured for storage away from the visible notice of anycasual passerby whenever the car is to be parked along a publicthoroughfare or left unattended for some extended period of time. Morerecently, some of these units have been manufactured with a separatelydetachable control panel that can be removed from the front surface ofthe component unit. By detaching the control panel, the owner rendersthe accessory component unit virtually unusable and inoperable evenwhile the rest of the unit remains in place unremoved within thedashboard.

Numerous other approaches exist intending to protect against themisappropriation of car stereos, including such various devices as awarning alarm which sounds upon attempted tampering, or a remainderalarm prompting the vehicle owner to remove the unit before leaving thecar. The latter type of apparatus is exemplified in Ghazarian (U.S. Pat.No. 4,906,969) disclosing an anti-theft warning system in which aflashing LED light or an audible beeper alarm becomes activated whenevera removable accessory unit is installed in place within the car duringthe time until the ignition switch is also closed. The warning system infact requires the motor vehicle owner to remove the accessory unitbefore leaving the vehicle, in order to deactivate the warning alarm.There are also my prior art systems of the former type, for example theanti-theft device for a removable car stereo unit disclosed by Holzhaueret. al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,416). The Holzhauer system is intended toinactivate the car stereo by means of a small change-over switch thatresponds to either a control signal from a separate, "pre-armed" burglaralarm system contained somewhere within the motor vehicle, oralternatively to slight deformation of the outer edge of the microswitchdue to small amounts of physical pressure such as would occur if the carstereo were improperly removed. There are a large number of other carstereo anti-theft systems having mechanically activated switching means,as for example shown in the disclosure of Knakowski et al. (U.S. Pat. No4,679,026). These several devices are all intended as precautions takento prevent the attempted larceny of perhaps the most vulnerableautomotive accessory. Yet, they are nonetheless all inherently limited,having no amount of effectiveness as regards protective security for theenirety of the motor vehicle.

The prior art also includes a number of anti-theft devices specificallyfor the prevention or deterrence of theft for the motor vehicle only.Some of these involve a mechanically or electrically coded key requiredin addition to the automobile ignition key for the normal starting oroperation of the vehicle. Again, there are a wide variety of these, witha wide array of mechanical and electrical combinations, for example thevariably configurable device disclosed by Greenspan (U.S. Pat. No.3,004,170). However, among all these numerous anti-theft systems, noneas yet has the advantages that might be obtained, in terms of overallusefulness and convenience of implementation, by combining integrallywithin a removable electronic accessory component unit such as a carstereo, a protective system having anti-theft deterrence for the entiremotor vehicle.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention toprovide a more comprehensive and at the same time more convenientlypracticable mode of anti-theft protection for the automobile owner whomay already have a theft-preventing removable car stereo, but who lacksa similarly effective anti-theft security system to ensure protection ofthe entire vehicle. By adapting a particular set of anti-theft elementsfrom the electrical system of the vehicle, and incorporating thesewithin the integral components of an anti-theft removable electronicaccessory unit, the present invention permits a measure of protectionfor an entire car similar to that which previously could be obtainedonly for the accessory unit itself. Furthermore, the present inventionprovide the motor vehicle owner a means for achieving anti-theftprotection which might be less cumbersome or tedious to use on aneveryday basis. The very simplicity and accessibility of itsimplementation adds to the likelihood of a protective anti-theft systemhaving a positive effect.

Another object of the present invention is to frustrate or detertampering by those attempting to "jump-wire" the car, trying to defeator to bypass the negative control of the vehicle that ordinarily obtainsupon removal of the accessory unit. The connector used for attaching theremovable component has a plurality of electrical contact points, ofwhich only one particular pairing might be used to establish therequisite electrical continuity necessary to operate the motor vehicle.Connector contacts the are not actively required in the electronicsystem of the vehicle are connected to electrical ground. An intruderwho tries to "jump-wire" the car may inadvertently cause a short-circuitto occur in the electrical wire leading from the motor vehicle storagebattery; this opens a protective circuit-breaking fuse, interposedbetween the connector unit and the motor vehicle storage battery, thusinterrupting the supply of electrical power for the automobile fusepump, thereby disabling normal operation of the motor vehicle.

The precise configuration of the invention might be altered according tothe varying circumstances, and the particular preferences of individualmotor vehicle owners, and is therefore adaptable across a wide varietyof specific embodiments. However, the general outlines of the inventionas demonstrated and disclosed herein may be shown definitively byreference to the accompanying drawings and to the detailed descriptionfollowing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view depicting an exemplary embodimentof the present invention, wherein a removable car stereo unit is shownin juxtaposition to a non-removable mounting bracket along with acomponent connector joining between them, and with wires leading awayfrom the connector apparatus and going to other parts of the automotiveelectrical system.

FIG. 2 is a combined illustration and circuit schematic of thearrangement shown in FIG. 1, depicting the car stereo and mountingbracket in close apposition, with the two parts of the connector unitconjoined, and with a schematic representation of the wires leading awayfrom the connector assembly, towards the motor vehicle storage batteryand fuel pump.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative arrangement for the present invention,wherein only the front panel or a portion of the front panel can beremoved easily from the chassis box enclosing a car stereo, the chassisbox being fixably attached inside the passenger compartment of the carwithin a secure bracket mounting. In contradistinction to thearrangement shown in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 2 wherein the connector assemblyis located on the backplane of the removable component in FIG. 3, theconnector assembly is located towards the front of the car stereocomponent unit, on the front side of the chassis box.

FIG. 4 is a combined illustration and circuit schematic of thearrangement shown in FIG. 3, depicting the car stereo and removablefront panel in close proximity so that the two parts of the connectorunit are conjoined, again with a schematic representation of wiresleading away from the connector assembly and towards the motor vehiclestorage battery and fuel pump.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring first to FIG. 1, wherein the present invention is shown asadapted for use with an electronic automotive accessory of the type thatis removable as an entire component unit. In the illustrated embodiment,a typical car stereo component unit (11) is located in proximalalignment and adjacent to a mounting bracket (12) into which the carstereo unit can be slidably inserted. The backplane of the removableunit, as depicted in the cutaway perspective of FIG. 1, includes aninsertable portion of the connector assembly (21) which bas a number ofinsertion elements arranged in a single horizontal row of verticallypanel metal plates (21.01 thru 21.10). When the removable car stereocomponent is slidably inserted into the mounting bracket, each of themetal insertion plates connects to one of the knife-catch receptacleelements (22.01 thru 22.10) shown attached to the interior surface ofthe backplane side of the mounting bracket. Each of the knife-catchreceptacle elements contains a single pair of metal lugs which arespring biased and interleaved so as to hold between then in secureelectrical contact one of the metal insertion plates. The severalreceptacle elements are arranged in a single horizontal row to alignconformably with the vertical plates of the insertion element. When theremovable car stereo including the entire chassis box is fully insertedinto the mounting bracket, each one of the flat vertical insertionplates connects within and is contained between a corresponding pair ofmetal lugs within one of the receptacle elements, the entirehorizontally disposed array of knife-catch receptacle elements definingthe socket portion of the connector assembly (22).

The wires (a thru j) leading away from the backplane of the mountingbracket represent only a portion of all the electrical wires that mayneeded for proper function of the car stereo. For example, the carstereo may require antenna input leads, or other auxiliary source inputleads; additionally the car stereo may require a number of outputsleading to audio amplifiers or speakers. Ordinarily, a removable carstereo unit may have twenty or more wire leads, each of them having aseparate but necessary function for the car stereo sound system. Thepresent invention considers that the wiring shown in the illustrationsare therefore only a subset of all the electrical wires that a carstereo unit may have, and the schematics shown are thus only partiallycomplete in that sense. A representative schematic of the sort of wiringconfiguration that is needed for the present invention is detailed inFIG. 2 which is a top-down view of the connector assembly (22) depictedalong with other parts of the anti-theft device of the presentinvention, shown in a diagrammatic form.

Of the several wires (a-j) depicted in FIG. 2, attention is drawn inparticular to wire (d) and wire (h), and to the wiring bridge (31) thatruns between them and that is contained within the insertable portion ofthe connector assembly (21). The wiring bridge is the link thatestablishes electrical continuity between wire (d) and wire (h) wheneverthe two parts of the connector assembly are brought together, which isto say whenever the car radio is fully inserted into the mountingbracket so that the insertable portion and the receptacle portion of theconnector assembly are mechanically and electrically conjoined. Withoutthe link of continuity between wire (d) and (h) which the connectingbridge (31) allows, there is an opening in the electrical circuitbringing electrical power from the storage battery (13) to the fuel pump(14). Therefore, whenever the car stereo is removed from the mountingbracket, the bridging link is interrupted, and the fuel pump no longeroperates to fuel to engine thru the carburetor (15), preventing themotor vehicle thereby from being operated in a normal fashion.

The present invention also contains another feature which isadditionally shown within the schematic diagram of FIG. 2, andspecifically by the fuse interposed between the storage battery (13) andwire (d), and by the grounding of the several remaining wires that arenot otherwise assigned to a particular function required either for theoperation of the car stereo or for operation of the motor vehicle. Inthe schematic shown, all the wires excepting (d) and (h) are redundantin this manner, and are thus contemplated by the present invention tocomprise elements of an anti-tampering system. Any would-be intruderattempting to "jump-wire" the system in order to bypass the anti-theftprotection offered by the electronic bridge circuit would be at risk ofinadvertently creating instead a jump-wire shunt that would connect thepower supply (d) directly to chassis ground thru any one of theremaining wires not otherwise in use. The short-circuit that would thenoccur would overload the circuit-breaking fuse (13.1) causing the motorvehicle immediately to cease normal operation, in a manner comparable tothe electrical disjunction and disconnect that occurs when the carstereo is removed from the motor vehicle.

A second embodiment, and the preferred form of the present invention, isdepicted in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 illustrating the anti-theft system of thepresent invention as adapted for use with the type of automotiveelectronic accessory unit having a detachable front control panel, oralternatively having some portion of the front control panel beingdetachable. This form of the invention is preferable since it allows thevehicle owner an equivalent measure of anti-theft protection, withoutrequiring the removal of the larger and also heavier component unit thatis shown in the first embodiment.

The basic elements of the preferred system are similar in most respectsto the first embodiment. The differences are important to note, however.For example, in FIG. 3, the insertion portion of the connector assembly(21') is no longer located on the backplane of the removable componentunit, but instead is contained within a much smaller space along theinterior side of the removable control panel (11'). The receptacleportion of the assembly (22') is now located on the front surface of theelectronic component unit, where it can align with and connect directlyto the insertion portion of the connector assembly (21'). The cutawayperspective view shown in FIG. 3 is a pictorial representation of aknife-and-catch type connector assembly, which is one type of connectorassembly arrangement that could be used.

FIG. 4 shows the schematic and pictorial diagram for the system,comparable in this illustration to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 withthe main difference again being that when the two parts of the connectorassembly are conjoined during normal operation, the connector assemblyis located towards the exterior surface of the front side of the carstereo unit. The electronic bridging link (31') is again containedwithin the removable portion of the car stereo system, in this case thefront control panel only. Other basic aspects of the system are nototherwise remarkably dissimilar from the first embodiment. The bridginglink permits electrical continuity between wire (d') and wire (h') so asto allow normal operation of the fuel pump (14') bringing gasoline tothe engine carburetor (15'). The motor vehicle is thus effectivelydisabled from normal operation whenever the bridging link element is notin place, that is whenever the front control panel portion (11') isdisconnected from the remaining portion of the car stereo (12'). Theanti-tampering feature of the system is also comparable to the firstembodiment, with the power supply storage battery (13') being wired inseries with a circuit-breaking fuse (13.1') to that improperlyattempting to "jump-wire" the car may cause a short circuit thus casingthe fuse to open, again thereby preventing any normal operation of themotor vehicle.

Modifications for the invention as described could include disconnectcircuits for other control components of the motor vehicle, such as theignition switch, the starter motor, the fuel injection control circuit,or other electrically controlled parts of the car that are necessaryeither for starting or for running the motor vehicle in a normal manner.Furthermore, other electronic accessory component units could be adaptedto the system, and not just the car stereo. Additionally, the specificlocation of the connector assembly could be enlarged or reduced ascircumstances might require, while remaining within the scope andintention of the present invention. The invention as described does notexclude these or any other modifications that might become apparent tothose skilled in the art, but is limited only by the scope of the claimswhich follow hereinbelow.

What is claimed is:
 1. An anti-theft security system for a motor vehiclehaving a . .radio receiver.!. .Iadd.stereo system .Iaddend.componentunit installed and securably fastened within the passenger compartmentof the vehicle, the . .radio receiver.!. component unit havingfurthermore an outer front panel, at least a portion thereof designed tobe easily detachable from and reattachable to the remainingnon-removable portion of the . .radio receiver.!. component unit, saidmotor vehicle having .Iadd.an electrical system including .Iaddend.astorage battery . .with a grounded pole and a non-grounded pole,.!. and. .having furthermore a fuel pump with a grounded pole and anon-grounded pole.!. .Iadd.at least one control component for startingand/or operating the motor vehicle.Iaddend., said anti-theft systemcomprising connector means for establishing an electrical connectionbetween the detachable front panel . .at least a portion thereof.!. andthe remaining non-removable portion of the . .radio receiver.!..Iadd.component unit.Iaddend., the connector means including . .a numberof electrical.!. contact . .points.!. .Iadd.means .Iaddend.located onthe detachable portion of the . .radio receiver.!. .Iadd.component.Iaddend.unit disposed to conformably align and pair together withcorresponding contact . .points.!. .Iadd.means .Iaddend.located on thenon-removable portion of the . .radio receiver.!. .Iadd.componentunit.Iaddend., where said . .connector means furthermore includes atleast one.!. contact . .point which is.!. .Iadd.means associated withsaid non-removable portion of said component unit includes meanselectrically .Iaddend.connected . .electrically wired in series with thenon-grounded pole of the motor vehicle fuel pump.!. .Iadd.to the controlcomponent for starting and/or operating the motor vehicle.Iaddend., and. .and another contact point.!. .Iadd.means .Iaddend.electricallyconnected . .wired in series with the non-grounded pole of the motorvehicle.!. .Iadd.to the .Iaddend.storage battery, whereby disjunction ofthe . .outer.!. .Iadd.detachable .Iaddend.front panel . .at least aportion thereof.!. from the . .radio receiver.!. component unit ..also.!. interrupts electrical continuity between the . .motorvehicle.!. storage battery and the . .fuel pump.!. .Iadd.controlcomponent for starting and/or operating the motor vehicle.Iaddend.,thereby disabling the motor vehicle from being .Iadd.started and/or.Iaddend.operated.
 2. An anti-theft security system for a motor vehicle,comprising:i) a radio receiver component unit of the type having anouter front panel at least a portion thereof removable detachable fromthe remainder of the radio receiver component unit; ii) a socketreceptacle securely fastened within the non-removable portion of theradio receiver component unit, the socket receptacle containing aplurality of contact slots including a first contact slot connectingelectrically to a non-grounded pole of the motor vehicle storagebattery, a second contact slot connecting electrically to a non-groundedpole of the motor vehicle fuel pump, and at least one additional contactslot connected to a chassis ground on the motor vehicle; iii) thedetachable outer front panel portion additionally containing oninsertable plug conformable with the socket receptacle, wherein the plugintegrally contains a plurality of contact pins disposed to co-alignwith the receptacle, where in addition two or more of the contact pinsare interconnected so that with insertion of the plug into thereceptacle an electrical continuity obtains between the first and asecond contact slots of the socket receptacle whereby disjunction of theouter front panel at least a portion thereof from the radio receivercomponent unit also interrupts electrical continuity between the motorvehicle storage battery and the fuel pump, thereby disabling the motorvehicle from being operated.
 3. An anti-theft system for a motor vehicleequipped with a radio receiver component unit of which at least aportion thereof is designed to be detachably removable from a remainingportion that is non-detachable and non-removable, where the motorvehicle furthermore includes a fuel pump with a grounded pole and anon-grounded pole, and a storage battery with a grounded pole and anon-grounded pole, the anti-theft system comprising electrical connectormeans joining between the detachable portion and the non-detachableportion of the radio receiver component unit, said electrical connectormeans consisting of a receptacle socket portion and an insertable plugportion, the receptacle socket portion of the connector containing aplurality of insertion contact slots including a first contact slotelectrically connected to the non-grounded pole of the motor vehiclestorage battery, a second contact slot electrically connected to thenon-grounded pole of the motor vehicle fuel pump, and at least oneadditional contact slot connected to a chassis ground of the motorvehicle, the insertable plug portion containing a plurality of contactpins arranged to co-align with the insertion contact slots of thereceptacle socket, the insertion plug furthermore integrally containingan interconnection between contact pins whereby an electrical circuitcontinuity is established running from the non-grounded pole of thestorage battery to the non-grounded pole of the motor vehicle fuel pumpwhen the insertable portion of the connector and the receptacle portionare conjoined, and whereby electrical circuit continuity is interruptedbetween the non-grounded pole of the storage battery and thenon-grounded pole of the motor vehicle fuel pump when the insertableportion and the receptacle portion of the connector are disjoined,thereby disabling the motor vehicle from being operated.
 4. Ananti-theft security system for a motor vehicle as in . .any one ofclaims 1,.!. .Iadd.claim .Iaddend.3, including furthermore an electricalcircuit connecting between the storage battery and the motor vehiclefuel pump, establishing electrical continuity between at least onecontact on the connector and the ignition switch, starter motor, fuelinjection controller, or other component part or sub-assembly of themotor vehicle for which an electrical connection with the storagebattery is required for operation of the motor vehicle.
 5. An anti-theftsecurity system for a motor vehicle as in . .any one of claims 1, 2or.!. .Iadd.claim .Iaddend.3, where at least one of the contacts isconnected to a chassis ground, and where furthermore a circuit-breakingfuse is interposed between the motor vehicle storage battery and thecontact that connects with the non-grounded pole of the motor vehiclefuel pump.